A Lutheran college myth bites the dust

As many R&B fans know, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performer Bill Withers died recently.

His first hit was "Lean on Me."

I didn't know he had written it. Going to a conservative Lutheran college in Kansas in the 1980s, I heard that a 1970s alum, Paul Hill, had written it. And, I am far from alone, per the third comment on this answers website.

That then said, per multiple comments on this blog post, that apparently is not true. Nor, apparently, are other musical performance and songwriting claims Paul Hill made. That blog is by a Missouri Synod Lutheran parochial school teacher. I presume the majority of commenters are LCMS Lutherans and perhaps teachers themselves. Sounds like Hill did a bunch of legend-peddling. He appeared at that college once when I was there, and it was "common knowledge conventional wisdom" that he had indeed written it.

Guess that was just bullshit.

But, being a famous black Lutheran is like being a famous black Republican — you get all sorts of "passes."

Paul Hill doesn't have a Wiki page, but he does have this tribute MySpace site.